James Corum is an American military historian and the author of eight books on military history and counter-insurgency. He is a Lieutenant Colonel in the US Army Reserve (rtd) and has 28 years' experience as an army officer.

In Scott Brown, America gains a senator with a military background

The 52-47 per cent victory of a conservative in one of the most Left-wing states in America is a monumental political upset. From the perspective of foreign and defence policy, it's also excellent news, as Senator-elect Scott Brown has invaluable practical military experience: he's currently a lieutenant colonel in the National Guard.

Foreign and defence policy was a key issue in the special election for Ted Kennedy's old senate seat. The Democrats thought that a state that voted for Obama by a 30 per cent margin, and whose state government they've controlled for 55 years, would easily elect any faithful party hack. So the Democrats put up state attorney general Martha Coakley, a solid Kennedyite loyalist. Used to a one-party state and the automatic endorsement of every major media company, union and power group, Coakley was unused to things like discussing the issues. In liberal-land, the chosen hack is simply annointed and can usually get by with a few platitudes before assuming his/her office. Even killing your office staff is no bar to advancement for liberals in Massachusetts.

As expected, Coakley was sceptical of fighting in Afghanistan, and supported Obama's plan to close Guantanamo and try terror detainees in American courts. She would have been a consistenly reliable vote for cutting defence and expanding welfare. But this time the Democrat annointee faced a real election race – and no amount of spin by the mainstream media could hide the fact that she was simply an idiot on foreign and defence policy. In a press interview she claimed foreign policy experience because she had visted her sister who lived in London and had travelled out of the country on vacations. In her debate with Brown, Coakley criticised the Western engagement in Afghanistan and said that there were no terrorists there – they had all gone to Pakistan and Yemen.

Scott Brown makes an interesting contrast. As a university student he joined the Massachusetts Army National Guard, completed his infantry training and served as an enlisted soldier. Later he enrolled in the Reserve Officer Training Corps, which allowed him to earn a commission. For 30 years, Senator-elect Brown has served in the National Guard, and in that time he has gone through the infantry and quartermaster courses and completed airborne school. He is currently serving as a lieutenant colonel and military lawyer (Judge Advocate). Brown has not only completed a variety of training courses, he has also been deployed to Kazakhstan in support of the ongoing operations in Central Asia.

Brown's positions on defence are the opposite of Coakley's. Brown supports the American deployment to Afghanistan, and disagrees strongly with President Obama about Guantanamo and terror detainees. Given his clearly stated conservative views, he is not likely to support Obama's plans to expand social welfare spending at the cost of defence.

Most importantly, Brown has served as a real citizen soldier – and the American government can certainly use some hands-on experience in facing current conflicts. The National Guard and Reserve forces are a key element of US and Western defence; it's great to have someone in the Senate who has been there, who identifies with the millions who serve in the armed forces and the problems they and their families face.